FOOD & DRINK
Campari Soda.
By Jonathan Campbell
The wonderful little Campari Soda glass bottle was designed in 1932 by Fortunado Depero to hold the first ever pre-mixed cocktail. Conceived by Davide Campari, son of the company’s founder, the drink offers the ultimate aperitivo experience at home [...]
In the Seventies, we went on holiday with my paternal grandparents to Tuscany in Italy. My grandad loved Italy. In the war, he had been part of the British Army unit that fought its way up through Monte Casino to Rome. He remained stationed in the city for quite some time, until well after the end of the war.
As a little boy, this holiday had a profound impact on me. As soon as we stepped off the Alitalia plane, I immediately fell in love with Italy and everything Italian. We stayed in a huge villa just off Piazza Marconi in Forte dei Marmi. Piazza Marconi is a large, oblong-shaped square with an inner circular track. My parents would hire my brother and I pedal cars to tear around it while they watched from one of the bars facing the square.
My mum would always order a Campari Soda. This is where I first saw that wonderful little glass bottle, designed in 1932 by Fortunado Depero to hold the first ever pre-mixed cocktail. Conceived by Davide Campari, son of company founder Gaspare Campari, the drink itself was initially created to offer the ultimate aperitivo experience at home.
In this single, self-contained serving, anyone could enjoy the perfect blend of Campari and soda, with just the right level of carbonation and just the right balance of flavour. Both the cocktail and the small, cone-shaped bottle it comes in are the essence of simplicity and modernity. They really do represent La Dolce Vita.
The beauty of Tuscany and that first experience of Italy inspired me, twenty years later, to name my first child Florence.
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